Making French Press Coffee at Home – Starter Guide
Home-brewed coffee is one of life’s joys.
There’s the early morning get-me-started brew. There’s the lazy Sunday coffee-with-my-newspaper brew. There’s the mid-morning pick-me-up brew. All good brews bring moments of joy with the first sip.
At some point, you decide that you want these moments for yourself. You want to ditch the instant coffee. You decide to get a French press brewer. It seems like an obvious choice. But you’re not sure how to proceed from there.
We’ve gathered our top 7 tips that will get you started with your French Press brewing at home.
Tip 1: Consider the volume of coffee you want to brew
Consider these 2 questions:
How much coffee do you need to fill your cup or mug?
How many servings of coffee do you need to make at a time?
Buy a press that has a volume that suits your needs.
These are the common sizes I’ve identified by searching the internet and my supermarket shelves:
350ml
450ml
500ml
600ml
800ml
1000ml
I have 2 press sizes. One is small (350ml), and others are larger (800ml).
The smaller press is easier for the frequent one-mug brews that I do often. Making a single serving in a larger press is also possible but less efficient. I love making French press coffee so I found having both options improved my brewing experience and helped me hone my brewing skills.
Tip 2: Consider brewers style and features
The most basic, cheap French press can make good coffee.
Moving up in price you may find better quality and material, more robust French presses.
Then there are the expensive French presses. Stylish and appealing, some with special features such as double-walled carafes or built-in scoops for the grounds.
The main influencing factors would be price-point, style/brand preference, or usage needs.
Draw the line at flimsy, poorly constructed French presses. The unit does need to withstand boiled water and cleaning. A badly constructed filter assembly can let grounds escape into your coffee. And if the assembly can’t be easily disassembled then you’ll have issues keeping it clean.
I bought lower-priced French presses. The glass and plastic seem to be sturdy enough but they are far from premium. I’ve been able to brew some incredible coffee in these and I am quite happy with them.
Tip 3: Use coarse coffee grounds
The metal filter in the French press prevents the coffee grounds from escaping into your brew when you pour it out into your mug.
Finer grinds (anything finer than medium-coarse) and “fines” (the dust-sized particles from the grinding process) will make it through the filter. There are intricate French Press techniques that can resolve this issue but for an easy brew process, get course grounds.
Tip 4: Keep it clean
Coffee oils tend to cling onto the carafe and the filter assembly.
The residue that is not cleaned off can become rancid and affect the taste of your brew.
Tip 5: Start with a basic brew recipe and technique
There are almost 50 000 Google searches a month asking “How to use a French Press?”. Its popularity is only outweighed by the lack of immediate knowledge on how to use it to brew good coffee.
I researched several recipes before settling on my go-to recipe and technique. It is as basic as you can get for a recipe, but it incorporates all the important techniques that can optimise extraction.
Check out my approach here: An Everyday French Press Recipe
Tip 6: Try lighter roasts
The brewing duration in a French Press is ideal for exploring lighter roasts that need longer contact time with hot water to extract the bright, nuanced flavours they can offer.
The French press brewing process can be hacked to optimise it for any roast level.
The aroma from dark roasts is intoxicating. Naturally, we would also want to brew darker roasts in our French press.
If you optimise the timing and extraction techniques based on roast level, you should get tasty brews no matter your roast preference.
I have worked on my French press process and have some helpful articles to get you started:
Tip 7: Change your approach with your French Press
Once you have your foundation in French press brewing, start exploring other techniques and concepts to get the most out of your Press.
Try a more advanced approach that is more advanced than the basic recipe shared earlier: Brewing the Perfect Cup of Coffee with a French Press
And if you need more tips, we have several more articles to help you.
There you have it, our 7 tips that will guide your journey and hopefully set you up for success with your French press brewing.
Simple, but not simplistic. That’s the French Press brewer. And we just can’t get enough of it.
Drop us a comment and let us know if these tips helped you get started.
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